Active Manufacturing

What Active Manufacturing does

Active Manufacturing Corp. is a privately held, family-owned precision metal prototyping and short-run production company founded in 1986 in Grand Haven, Michigan and currently headquartered in Spring Lake, Michigan. The firm specializes in custom metal components — including stampings, springs, assemblies, and wire forms — for enterprise customers in automotive, medical, defense, aerospace, power generation, furniture, food service, and electronics. Its core offering is a custom metal prototyping service delivered through 4-axis and 6-axis CNC machining, CNC wire EDM, CO2 and fiber laser cutting, hydraulic/servo/mechanical press forming, micro spot welding, robotic laser welding, and CMM inspection, with part capability spanning up to 8'x4' and thicknesses down to 0.002", and tolerances demonstrated to ±0.001".

The company operates a quote-based, project-driven business model: customers submit RFQs through the website or via direct contact, and pricing is set per project based on materials, tolerances, and volume. Revenue is generated through two streams — discrete custom prototyping jobs and recurring short-run production orders won through successful prototype-to-production transitions (e.g., 5,000-10,000 monthly test tube holder releases for a medical customer and sole-supplier status on a 430 bright stainless steel automotive aftermarket window trim). The company is ISO 9001:2015 certified (valid through 2028), ITAR registered, an approved medical industry supplier, a Precision Metalforming Association member, and was named 2013 Business of the Year by the Grand Haven Area Chamber of Commerce.

In December 2012, founder Fred Hohman sold the company to sons-in-law Jeff Braak (President) and Jeff Berry, both 20+-year veterans of the business, preserving family ownership. In 2014, the principals acquired Carter Bearings, adding a standard and stainless bearing line that complements the core prototyping service. The company employs 11-50 people, serves customers nationally with a Midwest concentration, and does not use distributors, resellers, or marketplace channels — all sales are direct.

Name

Active Manufacturing

Legal name

Active Manufacturing Corp.

Website

https://activemfg.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Active Manufacturing Corp. is a family-owned, Michigan-based precision metal prototyping and short-run production shop serving automotive, medical, defense, aerospace, and other industrial customers with CNC machining, EDM, laser, and forming capabilities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Spring Lake

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Metal Prototyping Services: Project-based custom metal prototyping for various industries. Customers submit RFQs with specifications; company provides quotes and manufactures custom parts to customer drawings. Revenue generated through discrete manufacturing projects with typical lead times of three days.
2. Short Run Production: Low-volume production runs for approved prototypes. Ongoing production orders from established客户 relationships, such as monthly releases of 5,000-10,000 test tube holders. Provides recurring revenue from successful prototype-to-production transitions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Active Manufacturing Corp. is a custom metal prototyping and short-run production shop that manufactures precision metal parts and assemblies to customer drawings. Capabilities include CNC machining, wire EDM, stamping and forming, laser cutting, laser and spot welding, assembly, reverse engineering, over molding, finishing, and heat treating, with production of parts as large as 8' x 4' and as thin as 0.002". Typical lead times are three days, and the company serves automotive, medical, defense, aerospace, electronics, furniture, and food-service OEMs.

Product overview

Active Manufacturing is a single-service metal fabrication company specializing in custom metal prototyping and short-run production. Their primary offering is the Custom Metal Prototyping Service, which encompasses various fabrication processes including CNC machining, wire EDM, stamping, forming, laser cutting, laser welding, and assembly. They work with a wide range of metals and offer additional services such as reverse engineering, over molding, finishing processes, and heat treating. The company operates a specialty production shop with typical lead times of three days.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Metal Prototyping Service Custom metal prototyping service for a broad range of industries using CNC machining, wire EDM, stamping, forming, laser cutting, laser welding, micro spot welding, assembly, reverse engineering, over molding, finishing, and heat treating. Works with parts as large as 8' x 4' and thicknesses down to 0.002", with typical lead times of three days.

Quantifiable outcome

• As fast as 3 days lead time for specialty production
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Carter BearingsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Carter Bearings was purchased in 2014 by Active Manufacturing's current President Jeff Berry and his brother-in-law Jeff Braak. Carter specializes in standard bearings and an extensive stainless bearing line. The acquisition expands Active Manufacturing's product offerings and allows customers to order high precision bearings from stock with fast delivery. Carter can also modify standard bearings to meet specific design requirements.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Plethora: On-demand manufacturing platform aggregating fabrication capacity for prototype and low-volume production parts. Overlaps with Active in the custom metal prototyping and short-run production use case from a customer-sourcing perspective.
• MacroFab: Digital manufacturing platform focused on electronics contract manufacturing and PCB assembly but expanding into broader custom fabrication. Adjacent rather than directly overlapping with Active, though both target engineers needing fast custom-built parts.

Direct peers

• Xometry: AI-powered on-demand manufacturing marketplace covering CNC, sheet metal, and other processes. Competes for the same prototype and short-run customer RFQs as Active Manufacturing, but with a digital marketplace model and far larger supplier network.
• Fictiv: Digital manufacturing platform for custom mechanical parts including CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication. Directly comparable in serving engineers and OEMs needing prototype-to-low-volume custom metal parts with fast turnaround.
• Hubs (formerly Hubs, now Protolabs): Online manufacturing platform offering CNC machining, sheet metal, and injection molding for prototypes and low-volume production. Comparable service scope and customer profile to Active Manufacturing's custom metal prototyping business.
• Protolabs: Digital manufacturing service offering CNC machining, sheet metal, and other custom prototyping and low-volume production. Directly comparable in target customer (engineers needing fast custom metal parts) and core capability set, but operates at materially larger scale with an instant-quoting platform.

Broad incumbents

• MetalTek International: Custom metal casting and fabrication house serving industrial, defense, aerospace, and other heavy industries. Comparable in serving regulated industrial customers with custom metal parts but focused primarily on casting rather than sheet/stamping work.
• Stratasys Direct Manufacturing: Large-scale parts manufacturing service offering CNC, additive manufacturing, and injection molding. Overlaps with Active on custom metal prototyping and short-run production but serves a much broader portfolio of processes and customer tiers.

Regional players

• Midwest Metal Products: Midwest US custom metal stamping and fabrication job shop serving similar OEM customers in automotive and industrial markets. Comparable in service mix (stamping, prototyping, short-run production) and regional customer base, though specific capabilities differ.

Others

• Thomas Publishing / Thomasnet: Industrial sourcing platform that connects buyers to US manufacturers including job shops like Active Manufacturing (Active's own site was built by Thomas Marketing Services). Functions as a discovery channel for Active rather than a direct competitor, but reshapes how customers find prototype shops.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/active-manufacturing

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Active Manufacturing